Terraria – making gaming fun again

Possibly the most addictive game I've played in a long time!

With facial mapping, 3d reality based objects and scenery out of this world, games have definitely improved since I first started playing. Yes, okay, so that was quite some time ago I admit, but a while back I was facing an issue where I didn’t know whether it was just me ‘growing out’ of gaming or whether things had become a bit stale. After playing 9/10 games like L.A. Noire, to which personally I thought was the most frustrating game I’d played in a long time bundled with the most unlike-able main character in any game ever (not going to carry on with my dislike for that “tech demo”), I was looking for something to spend the odd half an hour to play.

Being a fan of shareware back in the early days and wanting to support indie developers I open up Steam and take a look at the offers on some of the indie titles they have listed. For £2.99 I was offered Terraria which from the screenshots reminded me of a cross between Mario, Diggers, Alex Kidd and a host of other 2D favourites from my youth. Worth the shot for the price of a sandwich eh?

I started out with 2 tools; a pick and axe and thought to myself “what the hell am I supposed to do now?”. I wandered around the surface chopping wood and picking fights with slimes and picking up the gel that they left behind after I stomped them into oblivion. Hmm…I can make a torch. Why do I need this? I soon found out as the day slipped away and the dark made its way to the land that night brings a whole load of pain…zombies! It then came apparent what this game was about. Survival! I made myself a small fort from the wood that I had gathered, a bench and forge which allowed a whole host of new things to create and prepared to hold the fort for the night. Placing the torches I had made earlier lit up the area I decided to dig my way out for higher ground and thats when things got interesting with cavern after cavern, free flowing water and the threat of lava. Before I knew it I was hooked!

Darkness comes but the castle will hold off the hordes

Different biomes, boss fights, undersea battles, jungles, dungeons, floating islands, an underworld, dozens of different enemies, NPCs, weapons ahoy, a lego-esque building feel….and far, far more. After being so impressed with the simplicity of the game, yet how addictive it was I told a few friends about it and set up a server for us to all play together. What once was great was now awesome! The game is definitely more fun with a few friends and when theres a whole host of you battling the undead and building an empire together, thats where the game really shines.

With 200+ hours listed on steam its safe to say I’m enjoying the game and have a server up and running almost daily if anyone fancies a dabble.

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